Lucidity
by Ali-san
Summary: [Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE] Last and final chapter, chapter four, is up. Kurogane's side of chapter three. Fluff...
1. Ashura

**Summary:** Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE; Kurogane, in his POV, has a meeting with a certain someone, but it may not be all that it seems.

**Warnings: **I've said before that I don't really believe Kurogane is all about the swearing in his thoughts, but in this story, that side of him definitely comes out. Warning One: Swearing. Nothing major, but they surely do pop up a bit. Warning Two: No_ big_ spoilers. A mention of the sword Kuro-chii gets in chapitre 40 and the mention of a name in chapitre 55. Nothing to actually _spoil_ anything. But enough to spoil the surprise of the information. And this also takes place kinda sorta after chapitre 65. But you can't actually tell; just a couple of things at the very end that really don't give away anything (since I'm making it entirely up). Now that I've exhausted Warning Two... Warning Three: Where would we be without a little KuroxFai hint? Though I think, if you don't really pay attention, it's practically non-existent.

**Disclaimers:** All belongs to CLAMP, et al.

Lucidity

I had no clue where I was. It looked almost familiar, yet there was something…wrong with it. I could not put my finger on what it was, but I knew that there was definitely something wrong with the place. It felt angry, vengeful, and sad. I had no idea why I thought it was familiar. It looked like a place from where that damn wizard would have come. The room that I was in expanded hugely in all directions; the walls swept in arcs to the vaulted ceilings, chandeliers of glass falling in cascades above me. My surroundings looked as if they had been carved from precious stone and polished into creating their own light.

A ridiculously small table was set in the middle of the room not too far from me. A graceful ice blue tablecloth draped over it, spread, it appeared, for a kind of tea. Certainly not the tea with which I was familiar. This was definitely a foreign version of tea. Tea always meant conversation. And conversation is not exactly what I would call one of my abilities. I could always know when I was about to be reprimanded for behavior when Tomoyo invited me for tea. She usually sufficed with Souma, but sometimes she would wish to partake with me when I had done something she did not like. I always felt like such a cad in her presence. She, sitting so elegantly in her robes, sipping from her cup with gentle hands, was the epitome of a princess. I, on the other hand, was not very graceful, save, I suppose, in a fight. And to my utter mortification, I found that, in her presence, I was quite clumsy.

It usually gave her the advantage in our 'conversations.' She completely took advantage of my less than stellar conduct and talked about nonsense on into the night, often weaving in morals she believed that I should learn. She liked talking to me for some reason. But…I did not mind too much. Listening to her voice was one of the few things I would allow myself to enjoy. But again, she usually did all the talking while I sat there like a fool. So this tea setting did nothing to ease the discomfort of not knowing where I was.

Speaking of which, I was completely alone. No kid, no princess, no wizard, and no manjuu. Now that I had thoroughly convinced myself that this was not a place in which I should be, I scanned the room for some kind of exit. In one of the far ends, I spotted a graceful arched doorway; just before it opened. I swore under my breath. I could not hide anywhere since the tea table was all that the room held, and I was not an expert in disappearing. That was Souma's department. Whenever sneaking somewhere was required, she was the one who excelled. I tended to go in, sword flashing. Subtlety and I did not mix.

By now, it was a useless thought, however, as a man entered. His long, straight black hair framed his face and shoulders in an ethereal fall. His deep blue and white robes swept around him, brushing the floor, and in his hand he held a long golden staff that had an uncanny resemblance to the one Fai had carried around until he traded it in Koriyo Country. On his forehead was a strange marking, almost like a crown. He soon stood on the opposite side of the table and offered me a small, polite smile.

"Please do sit," he said, gesturing to the chair in front of me.

What the damn? A complete stranger just offered me a seat at what I presumed to be his tea table. I cocked an eyebrow at him. "I don't even know who you are and you're expecting me to just sit down?"

His smile grew fractionally amused. "Of course you would not know who I am. I do not suppose that he told you."

"So who the hell are you? And who are you talking about?" I asked.

"He really has not told you anything, has he?" He marveled. He shrugged lightly and sat at his place. He looked up at me again. "Please sit."

"I'll stand," I replied.

"I wonder what it is about you?" He said.

I was starting to get angry. What the hell was this guy after? "Speak plainly, or I'm leaving," I growled.

"Leaving?" He looked surprised. "You cannot leave."

"Why the hell not?"

He regarded me carefully for a moment before offering me a seat again. Which I declined. Again. "So are you going to tell me who the hell you are? Cause you sure seem to know something about me," I said.

He nodded. "I suppose I should. It will make this easier." He nodded his head at me, as if greeting me for the first time. "My name is Ashura. I am the king of the country Celes."

Ashura…Celes…Fai was from a country called Celes. And he sure acted as if he knew the name Ashura from when we were at that shrine. And it seemed that he knew the name in not a good way. Was this the bastard from whom he was running? He looked like a freaking pansy! I stopped that line of thought quickly. Even after all the wisdom Tomoyo had imparted on me over the years and then through the different dimensions as of late, I still jumped to conclusions. Maybe I should sit.

He smiled at me as I sat heavily in the chair opposite him. It was that same damn fake smile that Fai had. This had to be the one. He took the teapot from the center of the table and proceeded to fill both of the cups that rested beside it. He set one before me and inquired if I took anything in my tea. I had never heard of putting something in tea, so I declined. He nodded and sipped from his own cup. I stared at mine. It looked far too fragile for me to pick up. Tomoyo had learned from experience that I was not so careful with the thinner, more formal cups she was used to using. Not that I am a total oaf, I just happen to mistakenly think they are sturdier than they really are. That always led to chips and breaks. This cup had a strange crook on the side that looked ready to fall off on its own. It was not going to need any help from me. Ashura was using it to hold his cup, so I was able to realize that it was a handle. Something I also had never heard of on a teacup.

"You are not the greatest conversationalist, I see," Ashura remarked amusedly.

I knew it! Damn tea and its conversational connotations. I should have walked out when I had the chance. I glowered at him darkly, which only earned me a quiet laugh.

"I suppose you would not be," he said, sipping his tea again. "Fai can speak enough for two, so of course you would be more of the listening type."

"I don't choose to listen to that guy," I said. "He just talks."

"Yet you do not do much to stop it," he said. "You do see it for what it is, do you not?"

I did. Fai filled silence as another way to escape. I could tell at his current state, silence was a most grievous enemy for him. I nodded at Ashura. "Yeah. I do."

Ashura set his cup down and refilled it. "I am sure that by now you have realized that I am the one from whom he is running."

"Yeah," I grunted.

"Do you know why he is running?"

"Not a damn clue," I admitted, rolling my eyes in exasperation. Where the hell was this guy going with this? I did not like the way he spoke.

"Well, I will leave it up to him to tell you," he said. "Far be it for me to expose his secrets."

"He's sure good at keeping them," I frowned. "But he's lousy at hiding them."

"Only to you though," Ashura noted. "Young Syaoran does not seem to notice too much of what he is hiding. The princess does not either."

How did he know the princess and the kid? But then again…how did he know who I was?

He chuckled as if I had asked that aloud. "There are certain things of which I can keep track."

"You some kind of a mind reader of something?" I demanded.

"I can see the surprise on your face," he replied. "I can imagine you are not very good at keeping secrets from anyone."

I was not. Absolutely horrible at it. There was only one secret that I have been able to keep. Even then, Tomoyo had been able to guess it; I suppose I was lucky that no one from our sordid traveling group had seen it yet. Tomoyo had always laughed at me when I tried to hide something from her.

"Silly Kurogane," she would smile. "When will you realize that you absolutely cannot keep a secret?"

I frowned deeply, which only fueled his quiet laughter. The bastard. "So are you going to tell me what the hell I'm doing here, or what?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Of course," he nodded. "I only wished to have a dialogue with you."

I hated formal speaking. It was only meant to circle the topic and not to achieve anything. Even Tomoyo had dropped her more formal speech patterns around me, much to Souma's chagrin. "I thought I told you to speak plainly."

His smile completely morphed then,and I felt my defenses rise. This was the dangerous smile of an enemy. I had seen them often enough to know. To an average person, I am sure that they would not see any difference in his demeanor. But I could see that he was clearly on the mental offensive. I would not allow him to earn any power over me, though.

"You are quite perceptive." Even the tone of his voice had changed; menace laced through his polite words.

"What the hell are you getting at?" I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise and I suddenly realized that Souhi was nowhere. How had I not noticed before? I did not really need a weapon to fight, but it was definitely helpful to have one.

"I feel that you are getting too close," he said. "If this continues, I will no longer have any power."

"What are you talking about?" I growled.

"You know," he said.

Damn it. My gaze flicked to the one door behind Ashura. I would have liked to strangle whoever had built this room. What kind of an idiot built a room with only one door? I have always firmly believed that one should never go where there is only one way in and out. Ashura caught the movement, though, and laughed lightly again.

"Oh, Kurogane," he said. "You cannot help but wish to protect him, can you?"

"Yes I can!" I roared before realizing, all too late, that I had fallen completely into his trap. He had me. I had underestimated my opponent again.

"But it will not help him defeat me," Ashura continued. His eyes were filled with mirth at my outburst. "And that is what you want him to do on his own so he can be strong and heal."

My first reaction was to fly into an outrage that would most likely lead to exposing more of my emotions than I wanted; being that I did not want any of them exposed. I truncated the first phrase that came to mind and wrestled to find something that would be an appropriate, yet vague, answer.

"I don't know what he's been through," I started, barely able to suppress the anger behind my words. "But I do know, that the only thing that will allow him to move on, is to deal with it face to face." There. No emotion, only truth. But damn it if he did not smile even more.

"Did I not mention that you are not one that is able to lie?" He said.

I did not bother swallowing a growl. I hardened my glare. "All right, you damn bastard," I said. "What the hell are you playing at?"

He sighed gracefully. "Now I see what it is about you."

This threw me off-balance. He was talking in circles again. "What?"

He looked me in the eye, the menace no longer staining his own. "I do not think I have lost to you, yet. I have still done much more than you have. I still have a chance."

"All right," I nodded and shoved my chair back, standing up. "That was your last damn chance. I'm leaving."

"Of course," he shrugged. "I am sure that we will meet again."

I did not manage to think about how odd that statement was before the room fell away into nothing. And when I opened my eyes, I was lying on a hard dirt floor, surrounded by almost complete darkness. Where…? I turned my head, feeling a dull pain at my temple. Fai lay sleeping an arms-length from me, a distraught look on his face. The pain had grown from that movement and I could do nothing more than lie there, watching him, until I could no longer keep my eyes open, and sleep claimed me again.

**A/N**: So does anybody get the title now? Maybe? Well, it indicates a state of dreaming that absolutely convinces the dreamer that what they are experienceing is real. And at the end, it's not! Were you surprised? Well, I tried. Anyway, on with the real note. This story was unofficially commissioned by Duchessa. She dropped me a review on my last story and it sounded like a great idea. So I wove a way to make it so. This one's for you, Miss Duchessa! I tried to keep Ashura-ou as in character as I could, but I must admit that Fai's Ashura and Shurano's Ashura kind of seem completely different. But I tried to keep them the same on that 'basic level.' Though I have no clue if I really pulled it off. (Maybe let me know?) The only regret that I have is not being able to write the second chapter for this. Can anyone guess what that one's going to be about? I really do hate to only put up one part of a story, since I am all about immediate gratification when reading fics. I like to give people a complete story right away. But, this took some real thinking to write, and I wanted to get something up. So unfortunately you'll have to wait for the next chapter. Hopefully the wait won't be long though. Thanks for reading!

**EDIT:** Okay, after reading reviews (I've got three already!) I decided to go ahead and give a couple more a/n. Q. 1: Kurogane's secret. A. 1: Weeeeeeellll…..kay. Nothing officially from the story, bu I have this theory. While reading the Outo arc, it struck me as quite curious that Kuro always seemed to be wondering about demons eating people. He was all about seeing in the dark. Aaaaaand…he always quickly changed the subject if asked about the demons eating people. This brought me to believe that there may be…something about Kuro. I'm thinking he's got quite a traumatic past when dealing with demons. And there might even be a smidgeon more too. But that's my theory, and I like writing about it. Because he seems to be the only one that really doesn't have a hang-up (Syaoran has his eye and Sakura, Fai has his magic and Ashura, Sakura has…well, no memories, and Mokona is Mokona) so I figured that he must be hiding it very well. But he has to have one (because Mokona said that he too looked lonely now and again) and my theory, to me, fits that bill. Q 2: Did Ashura indicate Fai when remarking that he could not afford to lose to Kurogane. A 2: Yes. Whenever I have Ashura talk about losing to Kuro and no longer having power (over Fai), he is indeed talking about Fai. It's like a battle for Fai between Ashura and Kurogane. Ashura's got the history, but Kuro's empowering. I think that Ashura thinks of Fai as a kind of weapon (because I think Fai's magic is uber strong), along with whatever else.Q 3:To whatabout Kurogane is Ashura referring.A 3: I'm being vague on purpose here to confuse Kuro. That's why I don't explain it in the text(since it's in Kuro's POV and he doesn't understand what Ashura means). What I'm referring to is what about Kuro that Fai is attracted to (not necessarily any romantic connotations, since Fai keeps hanging around Kuro and bugging him and we don't actually see anything romantic going on between them except the subtlety that is CLAMP couples. Or potential couples. Or hopefully potential couples…). So if this warrants edits in the actual story, let me know. Thanks for the reviews! It's also good to know that I am not a complete incompetent when it came to Ashura. I was seriously worried. So thanks for letting me know! Oh, and the second chapter will indeed be Fai meets Tomoyo. Ohoho….


	2. Tomoyo

**Summary**: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE; Fai's POV. He meets up with someone he did not expect.

**Warnings**: So Fai doesn't really swear. So that takes care of my standard first warning (or lack thereof). Curse Fai and his silly spoilers! Why does he talk about their previous worlds so much? Damnit. Oh well. Warning Two: Spoilers. Again, nothing HUGE, but spoilers nonetheless. And the KuroxFai hints keep coming! Not as nonexistent as the last one (because…well…Fai's difficult, for some reason, and keeps thinking about what Kuro-puu thinks of him), which leads to all sorts of tidbits that could be interpreted as…something else. So Warning Three: KuroxFai hinting. Nothing serious (unless you want to read into the ending).

**Disclaimers**: As with the first chapter, all things hereafter belong to CLAMP, et al.

Lucidity

The room I found myself in was quite small. It reminded me a lot of that shrine Kurogane and I stayed at in Shurano. The room felt quite loved and peaceful. A low table sat in the center of the room with cushions surrounding its four sides. It was laid for the kind of tea we used to serve in Outo Country. The lanterns hanging from the walls lit the room dimly and I felt a quiet breeze drift through the sliding paper doors.

I was alone though. In the silence. I shivered. I had never minded silence as a boy, but it grew quickly to be a presence that I hated. I still do. And being alone was almost as bad. I did my best to push down the panic that attempted to seize my heart. I could not possibly be alone. Kurogane, Syaoran-kun, Sakura-chan, and Mokona had to be around here somewhere. My gaze darted around the room, hoping to find a clue of where to go.

I knew for certain that I did not want to be in this room, as happy and comforting as it felt. I did not want anyone to find me here lest they think I was some kind of threat. And then I would never find the others. I swallowed nervously and tried to focus again. As I felt my calm restoring itself, a soft scrape of wood heralded what I had feared; I was going to be discovered.

A soft tinkling of delicate metals caused me to open my eyes and saw before me a young lady of about Sakura-chan's age. Her mauve and white robes drifted about her as if entranced. Her hair was woven into an ornate style and fit her perfectly. She had to be some kind of noble. Her violet eyes held a warmth I had not experienced outside of Sakura-chan. She smiled at me beautifully.

"Hello, Fai," she said.

I felt the shock show on my face before I could suppress it. She laughed merrily at my expression before refraining.

"Forgive me," she smiled. "The look on your face was too much." She bowed slightly to me. "I am Tomoyo, the princess of Japan." She lifted herself from her bow. "Kurogane's Japan."

Ah. So this was his Tomoyo-hime. I suppose I should not be surprised that she was exquisite. Nothing less for Kurogane to protect and devote his life. I felt a pang of jealousy, before forcing it away. I returned her smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Princess," I said, bowing lower than she had. "Kuro-tan, er, Kurogane speaks highly of you."

She sighed eloquently. "Fai, if you please, I have come into the habit of speaking rather plainly around Kurogane. I would rather do the same with you and I would appreciate it if you would do me the same courtesy."

It threw me off balance for a moment. "Uh…all right…"

"Thank you," she smiled. "Shall we have some tea?"

I loved tea. Especially the kind that Kurogane seemed to enjoy. It had started a little strong for my tastes, but it quickly grew on me. It had been the kind we had served in the Cat's Eye in Outo Country. She sat at one side of the table, arranging herself so that her robes would not be in her way. I sat opposite her.

She poured our tea and set a chipped cup in front of me. I looked at it oddly and heard her laugh again.

"I'm afraid the state of your teacup is the fault of Kurogane," she said. "He was never too careful with my cups."

I looked at her, almost horrified. This tea set was beautiful, and Kurogane had had the gall to be clumsy with it? It was most unlike him.

"I don't think I would blame it on him, however," she continued. "He was just never very graceful when we sat together."

I smiled. It sounded like they had a wonderful relationship. Something I had never had with Ashura-ou. I could not sit with him in a main room in case someone intruded and discovered that the king was mingling with his court wizard. In public, I almost felt like he treated me as an embarrassment. I looked down at my cup then, studying the particles of tealeaves, collecting at the bottom.

"Do not be shy, Fai," she encouraged. "I only wish to speak with you."

"About what?" I asked quietly.

She regarded me kindly for a moment before answering. "I would like to know how you are."

I gave her a rather confused look. "I'm just fine, thank you."

"Now that you have given me the polite answer, how about if you give me the real answer?" She responded.

I was quite taken aback. I wondered if she was the one from whom Kurogane had learned to read people; or perhaps even vice versa. She waited patiently and I looked back to my cup. "I…I…don't know…" I murmured.

She nodded, almost gravely. "He can help you, you know."

I met her eyes. She could not possibly mean Kurogane. "He doesn't even like me," I began.

"Oh nonsense!" She interrupted. She looked away then, clasping her hands, her eyes turning starry. "My Kurogane is finally maturing. It's absolutely wonderful."

Maybe she was not quite the formal princess I had thought; she now seemed like the kind of girl that would get along well with Mokona. She looked back at me, her eyes still glowing. "You know that you are the first one who has been able to touch him as you do?"

Touch him? He tried to kill each time I touched him. "But…"

"No, no," she shook her head, the dangles on her hair ornament clinking together like chimes. "Do not let him fool you. He is quite tricky that way. He will swear that he hates you until the bitter end. But do not give up!"

"Princess?" I asked. She was not really making sense anymore. Was she always so adamant about things?

She shook her head. "Please call me Tomoyo. Kurogane never used honorifics when speaking to me. I do not see why we cannot do the same." She leaned in a little as if about to divulge me with a secret. "I have never much liked the honorifics anyway." I nodded and she beamed at me before going on. "I'm sure you have realized that Kurogane is quite distanced from people," she said and waited for my nod before proceeding. "He served me since before I could remember," she said wistfully. "He was ten years older than I, but I found that he was the one with whom I preferred to spend my time. He had to be around me anyway, so I thought we might be able to play together." She laughed lightly. "I was quite disappointed when he informed me that ninja do not play. As I grew up and learned how to act as a proper princess in this country, he turned into my only escape.

"At first, he wanted nothing to do with me, except to protect me, as he had sworn. I was a stubborn girl though, and the word 'no' applied to foolish things had never sat well with me. I could not see why I could not sit around and chat with him. I would be alone otherwise. So I persisted in heckling him until he finally began to open up and be himself. He had been so formal at first. I found out, however, that he hates formalities and proper speech. He was always so blunt with everything. Insomuch as he was my ninja, I also felt that, to an extent, we had become friends. Somehow I knew that he would give his life to protect me without a thought. As war and upheaval erupted in the country though, I was assigned a second ninja, Souma."

"So there really is another Souma," I exclaimed, forgetting my awkwardness.

"You have met her then?" She looked excitedly at me.

I nodded emphatically. "Yes. And Kuro-pii was so surprised that he dropped me!"

Tomoyo laughed outright at that, and I could not resist joining her. I could only imagine Kurogane sitting in the corner of the room watching the both of us hopelessly. We soon calmed ourselves and I finally felt at ease enough to take a sip of the tea in front of me. I had been right; it was exactly as Kurogane had made it that first night.

"Souma is a good ninja," Tomoyo continued. "But she was quite formal and always squabbled with Kurogane about his language with me. She never realized that I enjoyed his informal tone. He truly did see me as an equal."

I had always longed for that kind of a relationship between Ashura-ou and myself. At first, he was my savior, sweeping me away from that ruin of a life that I had known, and bringing me into his service. I had practically worshipped the man, doing anything he requested of me. And I had been all too glad to allow him to put that tattoo on my back. It would allow my magic to be controlled. By Ashura-ou.

"He sees everyone as an equal, it seems," I interjected quietly.

"Even you." Tomoyo finished my thought and I looked back up to her.

"Yes," I nodded. "I began this trip with only the slightest amount of confidence left."

"You did not let that drive you down, however," she observed. "You met everyone with the most pleasant of smiles and proceeded to charm them into thinking that you have not a problem in the world."

I was not surprised that she was so perceptive. "And they believed it. They still do."

"Except for Kurogane," she said.

He had never been fooled by my smile. And he hated me for not being honest.

"He does not truly hate you," Tomoyo looked sadly at me.

"He said he did," I said, not able to conceal the bitterness in my voice. I did not want him to hate me.

I looked up in surprise as Tomoyo reached across the table and took one of my hands in both of her own. "You must realize that Kurogane only hates the part of you that you show to the world. He hates it because he knows that it is not the real you. He never liked me very much when he actually saw me performing my duties. It was not the real me."

I was not strong enough to show him anything other than my façade. I took a wavering breath and I looked down at her delicate hands holding mine. "I want to be able to show him."

"But you think he will hate you for who you truly are?"

I nodded glumly.

"You do not believe in him?"

"I…I want to believe…"

"The fact that he has stayed with you all is proof enough to show that he cares," she said, softly. "He usually cannot put his feelings into the proper words, so he expresses himself through his actions. I knew he cared for me when he began killing for no reason. He always told me that he killed them all the first time so that they could not get up to try again. I did not appreciate the sentiment, but that is beside the point. Which is, he allows you to do things no other person would be able to even consider. Not even me."

I looked up at her again.

"Your nicknames for him," she smiled. "I would simply have loved to see the expression on his face when you first called him one." She chuckled lightly and I offered her a contrite smile.

"It was rather funny," I said.

She smiled at me again, and I felt the dark mood that had come upon me begin to lift. "You also insist on talking to him."

"Kuro-chan's not much of a conversationalist though, is he?" I was able to grin.

She laughed again. "Most certainly not. All of our conversations consisted of myself speaking, asking questions, and getting one-worded answers. He really is hopeless, then."

"He is!" I said.

"But he allows you to do all of it," she told me then. "And that means…"

"He…doesn't hate me?"

"Correct!" She applauded.

I smiled at her. Again, an image of Kurogane glaring at us from a corner came to mind.

"Leave me out of it," he would have growled, rolling his eyes.

Tomoyo shook her head again. "He never much appreciated jokes at his expense."

She could read minds too? She quirked an eyebrow at me, and waited for me to ask it aloud, which I decided to do.

"The shock on your face was enough for the last one," she explained. "I am not quite that magical. But believe me when I say that Kurogane has been in that position more than once. He always sets himself up for them though."

"He does," I agreed. "He really does."

"They always made him feel like a fool, he told me," she said. "I never cared though. He was funny without even trying. Which made jokes all the easier."

"And at this point Kuro-tan would start yelling about how it wasn't true," I laughed.

"Ah yes," Tomoyo sighed. She took a sip of tea and stared into her cup, a touch of melancholy in her voice. "I do miss him."

"I'm sorry, Tomoyo," I said.

She looked back up at me. "There is no reason for you to be sorry, Fai. I sent him away in the first place."

I shrugged. "Still, to not have him beside you must be strange."

She nodded. "A little lonely too." She looked at me slyly then. "But I'd imagine you'd be even more lonely if he were not beside you, wouldn't you?"

"What?" I almost reeled back in shock.

"Ohohoho!!" Tomoyo lifted a hand to her mouth as she laughed. She looked back at me, mirth still sparkling in her eyes. "That look was priceless, Fai! Priceless I tell you."

"What…what are you talking about?" I asked nervously.

"I cannot divulge," she told me. "If you don't know by now, then you will have to figure it out on your own."

"But why?" I began.

"Obstacles must be overcome on one's own in order for them to be truly overcome," she said. "If you trust each other, you both will be able to get passed your troubles."

I almost missed the way our conversation had switched courses. Kurogane had troubles and obstacles to overcome? "Kurogane never shows any sign of having troubles," I said to her.

She looked quite sad at my words. "It is a shame that he cannot tell you yet. However," she put a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "He has always been terrible at hiding his secrets. I would have thought you might have been able to notice something about him by now."

"What? What do you mean?"

She frowned. "I can hardly tell you, myself. Kurogane would most likely disown me and commit seppuku so that he would never have to face me again."

I blanched at that. "What on earth could possibly be that bad?"

She rolled her eyes. "It is not that bad, as you say. But Kurogane is deeply disturbed by it. It is very important to him and he wishes for no one to know it."

I honestly wished that she would simply tell me. But she had a point; Kurogane's troubles and secrets were his to tell, not hers. I nodded to her. "I understand. I've got some of those myself."

"Can you tell him about them?" She asked.

"No…" I said. "I wish I could though."

"He wishes you could too," she mentioned.

I smiled wryly. "Really now?"

"Oh yes," she grinned and I laughed again. "I have great expectations for you, Fai."

"For me?" I said.

She nodded. "Yes. I believe that, by your journey's end, you will become the person you were meant to be."

"So you don't think I'm the right me?" I said, smiling.

"No, you are," she said. "But you have so much more potential. You will find your strength before the end."

How I longed for that to be true. I could be how my heart wanted me to be and not how my insecurities forced me to be. "Tomoyo, do you think…"

"No more," she said abruptly and sighed. "I do wish I did not have to leave you like this. I had so much fun. Maybe we will meet again someday."

"What? What do you mean?" I asked and scrambled to my feet as she rose.

She tilted her head at me. "It is time for you to go."

"Me to go…?" She was completely confusing me, but before I could question her further, she smiled once more and the room dropped away from me, pitching me headlong into blackness.

I opened my eyes then and found myself lying on my side on a dirt floor, surrounded by almost complete darkness. Kurogane lay on his back about an arm's length from me, his head turned to me, eyes closed in sleep. Blood had dried in a trail from his temple down the side of his face and an arm was extended slightly toward me, palm upward.

I curled my knees up to my chest, huddling against the cold that seeped into the room. I looked back at Kurogane to find his dark eyes watching me dully. Neither of us said a word as we looked at each other. He opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he could not say anything. The hand that lay in the space between us flexed slightly before relaxing again. I reached out and rested my hand against his.

**A/N**: So this is the second chapter. I'd like to take this time to apologize to Fai fans. Forgive me for always writing Kurogane's stuff first. I can't help it (he is my first favorite character…) and his words/story always seem to come to me easier. Fai's always a little difficult. Again, this story's base plot was suggested by Miss Duchessa. I hope it lives up to the first one. I don't really think so and am somewhat disappointed in how this one turned out, but I can't really think of how else it would go. It doesn't seem as deep and meaningful as the first chapter, but then, Tomoyo and Fai seem more like the "Let's all sit down, drink some tea, and tell stories all night" kind of people. Sure there are some meaningful things, but they aren't as subtle as it was in chapter one. grumble I'll get Fai right one of these days for sure! So speaking of which, I hope I kept everyone in character. I'm pretty sure Tomoyo slipped a couple of times, but…maybe not…::shrug:: Don't know for sure. And…I could absolutely not help myself at the end. I swear that part wrote itself. But I still think it's subtle enough. A nice meaningful silence followed by a nice meaningful gesture. Speaking of which, the end of this story is something I dreamt up after finishing off chapitre 65. **SPOILER**: Syaoran goes looking for Kurogane and Fai amongst Ashura's people. After getting some negatives as answers on their whereabouts, he wonders if they're hiding something or if Fai and Kuro really have gone to a different world. I'm working off the assumption that they are all still in the same world, but that, as the townspeople said, might have been (and for the purposes of this story were) captured by Ashura's army for being strangers in the land and thrown into the dungeon or what not. (I sketched in that Kuro was injured in the line of duty ::coughprotectingFaicough::. Ahehehe….Again, I am innocent of actually writing that part. It wrote itself. I guess that's it. If I think of something else, I'll add it in an edit. So if you think something might be better in this chapter, drop me a line. Oh, and did anyone catch the X-Files reference? Teehee.


	3. Discussions and Encouragements

**Summary:** Fai reminisces on how he and Kurogane ended up where they are and a little discussion afterwards. Fai POV.

**Warnings**: Can we all guess what Warning One will be? Warning One: Oh wait…this is Fai talking. He doesn't swear. Don't worry, though, I'll make up for it in my notes and whatnot. Okay, so we move onto Warning Two: Spoilers. Not really a lot of spoilers if you've gotten past the first two chapters. This is complete and utter speculation on my part. It probably has nothing to do with what CLAMP is actually going to do. Warning Three: KuroxFai-ness. And thus, I think indubitably OOC for them both (more Kuro than Fai, in my opinion). But…this kind of goes with Warning Four (gasp! A new warning?!): Fluff. Oh my god, the fluff. What the hell was I thinking? Was I thinking? I'm going to claim imbalanced hormones, long days and the need for some happy, fluffy moments between two of my favorite characters. So beware the fluff. For it abounds. And another new warning! Warning Five: Not really a warning, more of a notice. Once I get my hands on the new chapters (66 plus), I'm more than likely going to destroy this chapter completely and rewrite the endings of the first two chapters. So if you want to save this chapter for posterity, please do before it is gone forever!! Or not. Anyways.

**Disclaimers:** TRC belongs to CLAMP, et al. I, sadly, own nothing but lots of merchandise. (But that makes me happy, so I guess it's all right.)

Lucidity

Exactly how long we lay there simply watching each other, I did not know. I could see that he had something on his mind; so did I, frankly. Somewhere in the back of my mind though, I wanted to save this moment for eternity. He was not shouting at me and I was not teasing him. I knew, though, that this strange peace between us would not last for much longer.

I glanced at the wound at his temple and winced. It somehow looked worse than it had when we first were thrown into this place; the skin surrounding it a dark bruise. I had been absolutely horrified at the time. We had landed in what I assumed to be a town square, much like where we had landed in Koriyo Country. To say that the townspeople did not welcome us would be an understatement. They had scattered from us as if we had come bearing infectious plague. We had not crashed into anything, so we were able to pull ourselves together quickly enough.

One of the men among the crowd had grabbed his broom, brandishing it like a club, and came after me. I never even saw him coming. I did sense him, but by then I knew I would not have time to react fast enough to get out of the way. Or at least out of the way enough that he would not hit anything important.

"No!" I heard Kurogane shout just before throwing himself straight into the blow that would definitely have taken me down. His head snapped to one side with the force of that swing and fell to the ground like a dead weight.

Too stunned to do anything useful, I stared at his body, watching as blood seeped from the abrasion at his temple. He looked dead. My breathing wavered with fear at that thought.

"Kuro…" I whispered. I could feel terror seizing me and tried to force myself to calm down. "Kurogane…" I knelt beside him and, with shaking hands, reached out to touch his shoulder. "Kurogane," I said louder. Maybe he would wake up if I called to him loud enough. "Kurogane. Kurogane!"

Then there were soldiers upon us, grabbing my arms and holding weapons to me. They yanked me to my feet and away from Kurogane.

"Kurogane!!" I fairly screamed as the soldiers likewise pulled him roughly from the ground.

They shook him savagely; perhaps thinking it would wake him. They slapped him too, leaving bright red marks across his darker skin.

"Stop!" I shouted at them before one punched me in the stomach, knocking all the air from my lungs, and effectively stopping further outburst from me. I hung from their grasp gasping and watched as they began to drag us away.

"How the hell did these two end up here?" One of the guards said.

"Haven't the faintest idea," another answered. "You'd think Yasha's top warriors would have a little more tact infiltrating our city."

"I don't think these are they," a third put in. "They look different somehow. See the blonde one? His eyes are blue."

The first one scoffed. "That's true. I heard Fai once had blue eyes. Kurogane had red ones. There's a rumor that they sold them to Yasha in exchange for living after they were both mortally wounded in a battle."

"Really?"

"I don't know," the man snorted. "I said it was a rumor."

There was silence from them then and I realized we were standing in front of a stone building. Just from the looks of it, I could tell it was most likely a dungeon or jail of some kind. A heavy, dark wooden door was pushed inward and they dragged us inside. Down a flight of stairs, they stopped at the final door in a long, torch-lit hallway. They pulled it open and threw me inside. I slammed into the dirt floor, and bit back a cry of pain as my shoulder jarred against it. They had a little harder time with Kurogane, but he soon fell beside me, still unconscious. The door slammed, ringing echoes against the bare, stone walls. I pulled myself into sitting and edged over beside Kurogane.

"Kurogane," I shook his shoulder gently. "Can you wake up? Please?"

He never moved. He could not possibly be dead. I placed my hand above his mouth and felt him breathing shallowly. It relaxed me somewhat, but not completely. Just because he was alive did not mean he would be all right. Quite clearly, I recall the only thing in the world that I had wanted at that moment was for him to open his eyes. I gently rolled him onto his back and placed a hand on his forehead gently, checking his temperature; he felt as warm as someone should be.

I did not know what to do from there so I simply sat, watching him and rubbing my stomach where that guard had punched me. It was probably bruising already; he had hit me quite hard. I looked around our cell and discovered that the only light was from outside our door; the light from the torches filtered in from around its frame. Not a lot of light, but my eyes were adjusting to it. At least I could still see Kurogane.

Now that nothing was happening and all was deathly silent and still, I felt myself growing sleepy and I found it hard to keep my eyes open. Taking a nap could not hurt, I had thought. I curled up on my side facing Kurogane and allowed sleep to take me. That was when I had dreamt of Tomoyo.

I shook off the memory of that hellish time and looked back at Kurogane. He had not said anything and still watched me with dull eyes. The spark that he usually had was gone from them. I did not like his eyes without that; there seemed to be no life in him, no fight. And that was decidedly not very Kurogane-like.

I became aware that our hands were still resting against each other and almost panicked, trying to come up with an explanation as to why I had done that in the first place, or why I was not pulling away. But then, almost as if they were actually spoken, I heard Tomoyo's words.

_He does not truly hate you. He allows you to do things no other person would be able to even consider. Not even me._

And I realized that his fingers were curled lightly around my hand. I looked from our hands to his eyes. His eyes are usually so expressive, but I could not read them. They offered me no clue to his thoughts.

"What's wrong?" His voice was scratchy and not over an audible whisper.

"I…" What did I want to say? What was wrong? How would I say it? "I…I'm sorry." For what was I sorry, though?

"What for?" He asked.

Count on Kuro to cut straight to the issue about which I was fretting. "That…that…"

"First, can you tell me why my head feels like someone tried to split it open?"

I chuckled softly. "That was the original intent."

"Oh. I don't even remember."

I knew he would not. A crack upside a head severe enough often caused memory loss for the few moments before it happened. "It was really me that should have been hit."

He frowned. "Why?"

"Because I was the one the man had been aiming for."

I knew his mental capabilities must have been fine, because I saw him find the connection, his memory piecing itself back together. "Which is…why you're…"

"Sorry?" I finished. "Yes. You shouldn't have stepped in like that."

He scoffed lightly. "Why the hell not? I can't protect…" He trailed off, a contemplative expression settling over his features.

I frowned. "What?"

"Nothing," he closed his eyes. "Forget I said anything."

I nodded, but knew that I was going to puzzle that for some time. "So I'm sorry," I finished.

"Don't be sorry," he sighed. "You're fine, I'm fine." He opened his eyes again, looking at me. "We're both fine."

I swallowed. It seemed like there was more behind that statement than what was said, but I did not want to read into it. I then remembered my fear from earlier and looked down. "I thought you'd died at first," I confessed. "I was so…so scared." My voice dropped off as I remembered the emotion of that time. "You fell so heavily…and then you wouldn't move no matter how much I tried to call you." I took a steadying breath before looking back at him. "No one has ever done that for me."

He almost looked embarrassed at the amount of truth and emotion I was showing, but raised an eyebrow at that. "Done what?"

I could tell him this. I could at least be that truthful. "Protected me."

I saw the ghost of denial flicker behind his eyes, but he remained silent. He closed his eyes again, as if collecting his thoughts. "I…I never even thought about it," he admitted slowly, not opening his eyes to look at me. "I…I didn't think. I…"

"It's all right," I stopped him. I did not want him to continue struggling to express himself like that. "Thank you."

It seemed like he wanted to say something, but I do not think he had the words. But I felt the hand around mine squeeze slightly. I covered the elation I suddenly felt with a concerned inquiry of how he was feeling.

"I'm fine," he replied.

I could have rolled my eyes. Any normal person would not be fine from that kind of a trauma. _Kurogane is deeply disturbed. It is very important to him and he wishes for no one to know his secret_. Tomoyo's voice in my ear again. I could imagine that she was attempting to give me a huge hint about something.

"What?"

I refocused on him. "I'm sorry?" I blinked.

"You kind of dazed out for a second," he said. "What's wrong?"

Deciding to go ahead, I took a deep breath. "Are…are you sure you're fine?"

Utter fear flared suddenly in his eyes before he buried it with anger. "I said I was fine, so I'm fine," he snarled.

I did not allow myself to flinch at his tone. I met his angry glare steadily, trying to wait out his anger. He still had not taken his hand away. His eyes burned for another heartbeat before the rage melted away. He looked away from me, staring up at the ceiling. He took a long, deep breath and let his eyes fall closed. I let him collect his thoughts for a moment before braving speech.

"Kuro-tan?" I ventured. "I…didn't mean anything, really."

"Actually," he interrupted, his voice quiet. "I think you did."

I caught my lip between my teeth, worrying it. What had I started?

"I don't know how," he continued. "But that was exactly what Tomoyo said to me the day she figured out…what…was wrong with me…"

_It's not that bad…_ I remember Tomoyo saying sadly.

He smiled wryly. "If I didn't know better I'd say the two of you had had tea and enjoyed yourselves at my expense."

I stifled a gasp. I did not want him to think I was insane because of my dream; I would rather he not find out about it. Then he was looking at me again, his eyes intense, the hand around mine gripping harder.

"I swear to you," he said. "I'm not going to lie to you anymore and I want you to not lie to me either." It seemed as if he was gathering all the courage in him to tell me this. "As…as much as I want to…I can't tell you yet. And…I know you're not ready to tell me either." His eyes left mine, but he forced them to return, though I could see he was now much less sure of what he was saying. "Someday…I…I'm going to be honest with you. And…I want you to know that you…you can trust me," his hand squeezed mine harder. "With anything. I will not let you face whatever it is on your own. I will stand beside you."

My throat constricted and I almost choked on my breath. Tears misted across my vision and I trembled with the effort of containing the raw emotion that ached to be released. He was right; I was not ready to tell him yet. I blinked, trying to clear my eyes, to see him again. I wanted to believe him. He would stand beside me. If he were beside me, I knew that I could face Ashura-ou again. I could break free from his power and, as Tomoyo said, become the person I am supposed to be.

I did not know what to say to him. What he said to me meant so much. Never in my life had anyone supported me, nor shown any interest in supporting me. I was Ashura-ou's wizard; I followed his orders, no matter what he wanted me to do. No one wanted to support someone who did nothing but what another person wanted him to do. But Kurogane said that he would. How could he put so much faith in me? Would I be able to trust him, even after all of this? As my mind reeled with questions to and from my psyche, I felt Kurogane's hand relax, and a concerned, if not anxious, expression came over his face.

"Fai?"

He had called me by my name. It was the first time I had heard it from him. He did not use any honorific, nor was there scorn in his voice. I shoved my mental misgivings away with that. Yes; I would trust him. I would trust him.

"Thank you," I whispered. "I…I will stand with you as well."

I felt him squeeze my hand lightly again. "I want you to defeat him," he whispered.

I hid my surprise and replied. "If I didn't know better, I would say that it sounds as if you and…and…he had a talk of your own." I really was not ready to tell him after all.

His eyes softened. "It's good that you know better."

I am afraid the smile I gave him was rather half-hearted, but it was all that I could muster. "I want you to…come to terms with…your problem."

He frowned, almost sadly. "We'll see before the end of this trip, I'm sure."

I nodded. "We can make it. I believe in you."

And with that, the moment ended.

**A/N:** Well, I think I'm going to call it quits on this story. After churning out the fluffiest piece of writing I have ever done, I think no more shall come of this. As I warned, I'm going to pull this last chapter and change the endings for the first two chapters once I read the new chapters telling us what actually happens to Kuro and Fai. So be prepared. Until then, though, please do not be mad at me about the fluffiness and definite OOC-ness of both of them (more Kuro than Fai, I think…) of this piece. Seriously, this thing is about as fluffy as an angora bunny wrapped in cotton batting. So…please be kind if you're going to review. I think this came from me just needing a nice fluffy moment between the two. ::sigh:: I don't know what I was thinking. Most likely my sleep-deprived brain and missing Kuro and Fai from the storyline (We haven't seen the _real_ Kuro and Fai since chapitre 59!!). ::sobs:: Anyway. I'm going to be working on a story about Shurano's Kuro and Fai next (again, thank you Miss Duchessa for the plot bunny). So please ignore this rambling, plot-less embarrassing fluff-piece (I should have quit while I was ahead…) and look forward to actual plot and stuff soon! Thanks for reading.


	4. I'll Believe in You

**Summary:** Kurogane wakes up. His side of chapter three.

**Warnings:** Standard Warning One: Kurogane swears a bit. Warning Two: No real spoilers. Warning Three: KuroxFai-ness. It is definitely there. And thus, mostly OOC for Kuro-pu. But that's okay. We can get over that.

**Disclaimer:** All belongs to CLAMP, et al.

**Lucidity**

I sensed, more than heard, Fai move. He had been slightly curled into himself, his knees only partly drawn up to his chest, but when I opened my eyes he had pulled them completely up looking for all the world like he wished he could disappear. But the world is not quite so merciful. He must have noticed that I was awake because he looked up at me, his eyes practically crying with insecurity. And before I could stop it, my heart went out to him. My head hurt so much though, and I blamed my compassion on lack of reasoning.

He reached out to me then, resting his hand just against my palm. Why did he do that? More to the point, why was I not flinching away? More lack of reasoning, I deemed. But even as we lay looking at each other like a couple of brain dead idiots, my dream of Ashura came back to haunt me.

Damn bastard. If he were actually like that in real life I would kick his ass if we ever really met. I doubt Fai would mind. Speaking of whom, I wondered what he would think if I told him that I had met that king of his in my dreams. Yeah, I am sure that would go over really well. It would just give him more fodder with which to piss me off. And I most definitely did not want that.

I wish I knew what had actually happened to us. I had no idea where we were, why we were there, or why it was that my head provided me with a most obnoxious pain. The last thing I remember was Fai and I looking up into the sky as it twisted to open a path to another dimension, compliments of that white manjuu, I'm sure. After that, though, I do not remember a thing, just that stupid dream.

I refocused on Fai who looked as if he was lost in some memory. Probably in one that I could not dredge up. He looked every bit as lost as he seemed and I curled my fingers around his hand, though why I did that, I had no clue. But I was lying to myself. I did not want him to look that sad. Fai should not look sad; he had seemed to come from a sad life and he did not need any more sadness. I guess I wanted to comfort him to a degree. Maybe it might bring him back from inside his head. It must have worked somewhat since a moment later he looked down at our hands before blinking up at me, his eyes apprehensive, seemingly searching for something in my own eyes.

"What's wrong?" How long had I been asleep? My voice sounded horrible. It did not even sound like my own.

He looked so uncertain of himself. "I…I…I'm sorry," he offered, his voice as quiet as mine.

What the hell? Why was he sorry? "What for?"

He hesitated. "That…that…"

I could at least spare him for now. "First, can you tell me why my head feels like someone tried to split it open?"

He chuckled a little at that. "That was the original intent."

I frowned slightly. "Oh. I don't even remember." You would think I would remember something like that.

Fai did not look surprised though. "It was really me that should have been hit."

I frowned further. "Why?"

"Because I was the one the man had been aiming for."

My head hurt because I had been hit. Fai was the target. I was hit because…because I had deliberately put myself between that man and Fai. Stupid, stupid Kurogane. "Which is…why you're…" Way to be eloquent.

"Sorry?" He finished. "Yes. You shouldn't have stepped in like that."

"Why the hell not? I can't protect…" You. Did I actually just come close to saying that? I had almost completely humiliated myself.

Fai gave me an odd look. "What?"

"Nothing," I closed my eyes in an attempt to escape looking into his. "Forget I said anything."

He seemed to almost accept that. "So, I'm sorry," he finished.

"Don't be sorry," I sighed. "You're fine, I'm fine." I opened my eyes again, looking at him. "We're both fine." Why, oh why did I seem to find it necessary to say things that could mean something more? And I would not accept the answer that I wanted it to really mean something more.

By the look on his face, it appeared that he was denying himself something. Then a different emotion washed over his face, as if he were remembering something awful. "I thought you'd died at first," he confessed. "I was so…so scared." His voice dropped off as he gathered his thoughts. "You fell so heavily…and then you wouldn't move no matter how much I tried to call you." He took a steadying breath before looking back at me. "No one has ever done that for me."

No one had ever made that kind of emotionally driven confession to me. I almost felt embarrassed. "Done what?"

He hesitated, unsure if he should tell me. Then, almost like he was trying to convince himself it was all right said, "Protected me."

I _can_ help that damn urge to protect him. I will not be susceptible to my emotions. Damn you to whatever underworld you fear, Ashura. You will not get the better of me next time. I closed my eyes. Fai did not have to see whatever it was my eyes might tell him. I just needed to calm down, that was all. I could almost hear Tomoyo laughing at me.

"You really do need to grow up, Kurogane," she had said to me before. "You need to understand your emotions, not run away from them."

I sighed. She was right. As usual. "I…I never even thought about it," I admitted to him slowly, not opening my eyes. "I…I didn't think. I…" I hated struggling with my words.

And it was his turn to spare me. "It's all right," he said. "Thank you."

I wanted to tell him something. What it was I did not know, nor did I have the appropriate words with which to tell him. In lieu of that, I found myself squeezing his hand softly.

"How are you feeling?" It was a random question, as if he was floundering for something to say besides what he wanted.

"I'm fine."

He almost looked annoyed, as if doubting that I was being truthful with him. But, then he looked blank, as if listening to a voice only he could hear.

"What?" I asked.

He blinked at me. "I'm sorry?"

"You kind of dazed out for a second," I said. "What's wrong?"

He took a deep breath. "Are…are you sure you're fine?"

A fear engulfed me so cold that I could have sworn it would kill me. He could not possibly know…No. "I said I was fine, so I'm fine," I snarled at him.

He did not flinch away as I half expected, but continued to meet my furious eyes patiently. Then the anger left. Just ebbed completely, leaving me feeling deflated and empty. I looked up at the ceiling, away from his sympathetic eyes. I took a deep, steadying breath, regaining coherent thought. How did he know? How could he possibly have asked the exact same question Tomoyo had?

"Kuro-tan?" he ventured. "I…didn't mean anything, really."

Bull shit. "Actually," I said. "I think you did." Out of the corner of my eye I saw him worry his lip anxiously, perhaps even worried about what I was going to say. "I don't know how," I continued. "But that was exactly what Tomoyo said to me the day she figured out…what…was wrong with me…"

He looked a little sad at that.

"If I didn't know better I'd say the two of you had had tea and enjoyed yourselves at my expense," I grinned wryly. It would just be my luck.

He probably thought I did not notice his almost gasp, and I idly wondered if I had struck a chord in him somehow. But my emotional side seemed to be on a roll and I found myself gripping his hand harder, looking back to his eyes intensely.

"I swear to you," I said. "I'm not going to lie to you anymore and I want you to not lie to me either." Why was I saying this? "As…as much as I want to…I can't tell you yet. And…I know you're not ready to tell me either." I looked away from him then. I should not keep talking. But I felt it had to be said. I looked back into his eyes. "Someday…I…I'm going to be honest with you. And…I want you to know that you…you can trust me," I squeezed his hand harder. "With anything. I will not let you face whatever it is on your own. I will stand beside you." I cannot fight your battles for you, but I can at least lend you strength to do it on your own.

He looked like he wanted to cry. It stung me to think that no one had ever offered that to him before. Were people in his country really that heartless? I'll bet that Ashura bastard was. Why else would Fai run from him? Fai deserved better than that. From the look on his face, he was falling away from me again, into that place inside his head to which only he was privy. My hand slackened from around his.

"Fai?" I knew he would react to his name since I've never called him by it before. He focused on me again and seemed to come to a decision.

"Thank you," he whispered. "I…I will stand with you as well."

If he knew, he might wish he had never said that. But it seemed like he trusted me. Almost as if he was unused to trusting people. I had never been good at that either, but Tomoyo had pretty much shattered that. I had never trusted people because I had never trusted myself to be able to judge their characters appropriately. In her own way, she taught me to be surer of my assessments of people. Fai probably never had someone like that. I knew the kid, the princess, and even that manjuu would support him. But none of them were here. Only I was. So I hoped it would be enough.

It appeared that way. His eyes were shining with gratitude. Damn you for making him like this, Ashura. I squeezed his hand lightly. "I want you to defeat him," I murmured.

He looked almost surprised. "If I didn't know better, I would say that it sounds as if you and…and…he had a talk of your own."

"It's good that you know better," I said.

He smiled half-heartedly at me. But it was probably all that was left of anything other than his fake smile. "I want you to…come to terms with…your problem."

I frowned. How, how did he know? He should never even have realized there was something wrong with me. I did not want him to know, even when I had promised I would tell him. I did not want any of them to know. As much as I trusted them, I found myself doubting that they would not turn away from me if they ever discovered it. "We'll see before the end of this trip, I'm sure."

He nodded. "We can make it. I believe in you."

I believed in him too.

**A/N:** So. _This_is the final chapter for Lucidity. And I think it might just be fluffier than chapter three. Wow. And Kuro-tan, in my opinion, is waaaay out of character. I chalk it up to that knock on the head though. Which is how I was okay with writing it. My apologies for chapter three apply to this chapter as well. KakashiLvr, I hope this was good enough for you. Or at least lived up to any expectations you may have had. I tried my best. It doesn't feel as well done as the previous chapter. Not sure how I feel on it. I wish I could have gotten Kuro in character a bit more, but the way I wrote chapter three did not really allow that. So…yeah. The fluff continued. I'm sure Kuro would gag if he ever read this. Then most likely kill me… But it would be with Souhi. And Souhi's a freaking sexy sword (::drools over sexy sword wielded by equally sexy ninja::), so I wouldn't mind. Aheheh...ahem. Anyways. I believe this wraps up everything in this story. Look for kind of a merging of this story with my other story, Legend. I've got big plans in store. So look forward to it! In closing, I hope this story wasn't too bad of a read for people and that no one hates me for it. And for all the grammar/spelling people out there wondering about the word 'surer,' I originally had 'more sure,' but my grammar check insisted that it should be 'surer.' I'm a little skeptical, but I didn't feel like arguing with it. And as always, thanks for reading!


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